Edwards man faces life in prison

Alfred Baumberger of Edwards was arrested on charges of sexual assault by a person in a position of trust. He turned himself in Tuesday morning.ALL |

EAGLE, Colorado – An Edwards man accused of sexually assaulting a girl in her mid-teens told investigators he is “flabbergasted” by the accusations, according to the investigation report.

Alfred Bamberger, 73, is charged with three felony counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Bamberger appeared in Eagle County Court Tuesday morning, where Judge Katharine Sullivan read the charges against him.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred between Dec. 12, 2010 and Feb. 7, 2011, while the girl was seeing Bamberger for treatment for a skin problem.

Bamberger called himself a “psychoneuroimmunologist,” the investigation report says. Bamberger shared space in Edwards, where he and other people each had rooms to practice.

According to the investigation report, Bamberger asked the girl to undress and lie on a table. The first time she did it, he told her not to worry, that he had seen “thousands of naked bodies in the past,” the report says.

He then applied cream to the girl’s body, including her breasts and buttocks.

When asked by investigators if she ever felt that Bamberger was “doing anything that didn’t seem like a medical procedure,” the alleged victim replied “No,” the report said.

Bamberger would apply the cream for “maybe 20 or 30 minutes,” the alleged victim told investigators. Afterward, she got dressed and would lay back down on the table for a “hypnosis/relaxation type session,” she told investigators.

Between those two sessions, after she was dressed, Bamberger hugged and kissed her, telling her how beautiful she was, the investigation report says. She says Bamberger kissed her face and arm, “like … you see in a movie before sex,” the report says she told investigators.

The girl finally received treatment from another doctor and her skin cleared up after getting “the right medication in the right combinations,” the report says.

During questioning with sheriff’s investigators, Bamberger told them that when he asked the girl questions about her age, it was in reference to a high school dance, and that he was too old for her, the report says.

The girl told investigators he had mentioned taking her to a cabin in Austria, the report says. Bamberger told them he wanted to take her entire family there because it is so relaxing, the report says.

Bamberger said he was “flabbergasted” and that it didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t want this on my soul,” he told sheriff’s investigators.

Bamberger is free on bond. His preliminary hearing is later this month, when Sullivan will determine if there’s enough evidence to put him on trial.

Bamberger’s lawyer, Brett Heckman, could not be reached for comment by phone after the hearing Tuesday.